


Duty and Honor

by Gemmi999



Category: Bones (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-03-18
Updated: 2011-03-18
Packaged: 2017-10-17 02:04:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/171800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gemmi999/pseuds/Gemmi999
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"In some cultures, serving one's country is considered a right of passage, an honor."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Duty and Honor

“Duty and honor,” Booth muttered to himself. “He’s going because of duty and honor.”

“In some cultures, serving one’s country is considered a right of passage, an honor.” Bones replied, glancing up from the skeletal remains in front of her.

“Not in this country.” Booth responded, his face drawn tight. “Here, you get a car at 16, you go to college, you have sex. You don’t fight for your country.”

“You did.”

“Yeah, well. He’s not me,” was the irrational response. “He’s got options—he could have said no, could have stayed right here at the Jeffersonian and still been serving his country.”

“Zach feels a deeply ingrained sense of duty and honor, he has for most of his life. It’s no surprise that when he was asked to go to Iraq by the President he would say yes. He wouldn’t understand the possibility of saying no”

“But, Bones.” Booth ran a hand nervously through his hair. “It’s Iraq, and he’s…”

Brennan looked up at the agitated man in front of her. “I don’t understand where this agitation is coming from, Booth. He chose you to tell us because he knows you understand duty and honor better then anybody else. You’ve served your country, why do you not want Zach to have the same chance?”

“In Iraq?”

“I’ve gone to numerous locations on the behalf of the United States—including Vietnam. And while I don’t want anything to happen to Zach, he’s been offered an opportunity.” She tapped one of the numerous bones in front of her. “The clavicle has a hair-line fracture, indicative of blunt-force trauma or a sudden stop, possibly in an automobile.”

Booth nodded, writing down a quick note to look into automobile violations with regards to the suspect. “Bones, God.” Booth paced back towards the back-wall of the lab. “He’s Zach—he belongs here, with the rest of you squints. He doesn’t belong in the middle of a war zone, ducking bullets.”

“I can’t imagine the US government sending forensic anthropologists to the front line, Booth. He’ll likely be stuck in a field lab somewhere, looking over deceased bodies and identifying the manner in which they were killed. He won’t be in significant danger.”

“Significant danger—there, you see? Even you think he’ll be in some danger.”

“Yes.” Brennan nodded, “but not in any more danger then every other person in Iraq. It is far more likely that civilians will be killed.”

“But he’ll still be in some danger.” Booth shook his head. “I don’t like it, I don’t think he should go. He should keep his little squinty ass here in Washington, and let somebody else go risk their life.”

Bones looked shocked at this outburst, but didn’t respond. If that was how Booth felt, then she wasn’t going to try and explain how irrational Booth was acting. “Okay.” She finally responded.

“Okay?”

“Okay, you think he shouldn’t go. But I can’t make that decision for him, and neither can you.”

“I know.” Booth sighed in regret. “I know.”


End file.
